Fire extinguishing apparatus



Feb. ze, 193s. R. ZIESCHANG 1,992,276

FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1953 I I f l I i INVENTORMLM., @l f im ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 26, 1935 t UNITED V'sTAlf'E's FIRE,EXTINGUISHINGRPARATUS I Richard ,Zies'chang, Brentford, England,Aassigner A.toPyrene x Manufacturing Company, Newark,

N. J., a corporationof Delaware r Application May 16,` 1933, `Serial InGreat Britain May 130,3 1932 3rQlaims. (015169-215)` This inventionrelates to lire extinguishing apparatus of the kind embodying acontainer of `highly compressed liquid Vor gasI and a loaded piercernormally restrained by means of a trig- 5 ger or pawl mechanism, thetrigger-or pawl mechanism being arranged so that .when necessary .thepiercerl can be released either manually or automatically and thuscaused to pierce the container andthereby release the liquid or. gasVfrom `Mythe. container. i l i -v It `has beenv foundin practice thatthe trigger mechanism'lusedin' apparatus of `the kindnde-`.scribedabove. is citen sosensitive thattherefis ,greatdangerfof theiire extinguishing liquid or L,15y gas. .being released from ,thecontainer Vaccidenr, ,tally as a result of a very slight andunintentional movement or application of pressure to the actu.-`,ating.,means `Whichfserve to causethe release of the triggermechanism.` `Such actuating `means l20]may, `for example, consist of ahandleor lother membenwhich isfarrangedfto actndi-rectly on ,'.th'e.trigger mechanism, or itv may consist-of a" remote ,control .connectedtothe. trigger` mech- Ananism, byfa iiexible'mechanical rconnection`offthe 25, kind` that comprises a central Vcore jinside `a fsheath,@the core and Sheath being capableof ofvusuch afilexible connection is adevice known as jthe` Arens controlginvwhich the `corecon-"reciprocated-inside the sheath. `Another example "ofvsuch a flexibleconnection is the control known ,under the 1 registered trade-mark,`"Bo`wden. "'I'hiscontroldiifers from the Arens control in ,35 "that"thecore lis solely a tension member Vand 'cannotbe used inY compressionandmustytherespringis put into tension and servesl as a store ,40 ofenergyready to pull Vthe core in the opposite directionwhen necessary."An exampleV ofV a nre extinguishing apparatus embodying a remote controland iiexible mechanical vconnection is shown inUnited States patent-to'John *Norman- ,2;45' IHIunter,"Nc.1,881,608A u 1 It is one object of4the present invention'to provide means by Which;the aforementioned i"dangerj of the piercing mechanism. Vbeingjacci- :".dentally released isfvery substantially reduced.y

f,\50"'1 hus.according totherpresent(invention, in"

scribed, a lost motion device is arranged in vthe trigger` mechanism.between actuating meanslfor a trigger, Olathe like and either,thetrigger: itself f55 or amember serving tey govern the; movement :of 5

"enothenobiect' 0f. the present invention to,

, .senegal 'Patent-Na. 14881-1508, and which` em# ""fore, bespring-loaded so that'when ithas4 been pulled inone direction through'the sheath the i trigger. mechanism,

vthe trigger, so as to reduce the risk of accidental release, ofi theylire `extinguishing liquid or gas. ,The inventiony is' particularlyapplicable Ato fire ,extinguishing .apparatus embodying a remote controland flexible mechanicalv connection be- A.tween the remote controlandthe trigger or the like such `as, thatmentioned above, because ithas'been found in practice thatwhen the flexible l connectionisconnectedy,clirectly'to the 'trigger or .thelike orvmember'which serves to governthe 10 -moyement`- oflthe trigger orthelike, there is a .very .Y greatdanger ofwthe piercer being accidentally released Awhen "the body ofthejflexible connection is moved or bent. The present inyention enables`this ydanger to be substantially 15 eliminated.

. .The inventionmay Very/advantageously be ap- V.plied to nreextinguishing apparatus in Whchthe ierce'n Whenreleased, is arranged tobe recipro- ,K cated "through .thejmedium 'of ka toggle arranged, 2 0

for examplaj in the Imanner `shovvn in i the afore- ,sai'dQ,l'atent"No,L1,381,608. VIn the apparatus gshqwn maarnachtmerries@ 1S, arranged t0 l'engage'. a groove in the vshank of the piercer. It

`hasbeeri found'in practice that such an arrange- ...ment isnot-altogether satisfactory because the Imovement relatively to eachother.v Anexamvple j.

piercer `aptfA to make the piercerbind in its een@ endlbeeaus thefpierrisgiept tesine at 3530, stitutes a 'push andu pull member Whichlcan bethe gro'ovelewhen it rebounds afterl release. It isy30 pr0 @vide meanswherebylthese disadvantagesare overcome;

jjf'lfhus, accordingjtomanother feature ofpjthe present invention,vapparatus of the kind de-` 35 bodies alost motion device, aforesaid,soarrangedithat Jthe triggermechanismserves to engage eitherthe ,toggleitself or amembelyother 'than the piercer, capable, `When connected by,the l .40

Yof vrestraining the 'u toggle in a'c'rakedresitin- C In' order l that Ythe invention lmay be clearly understood land readilycarried intoeiectpiercing mechanismjfor a `iire4 extinguisher: will `now 45 be described,by Wayofuegavmplawith, reference tot .themaccompanying drawing, whichshows the "mechanism in,elevation,` the `casing for the mechanismanducertlain lother parts` being shown in section.

The apparatus is shown inthe drawing `With the piercer andpartsconnected with it` and controlling itfinltheA fset, position, that isA.to say, ,the ,position in whichrpiercer 11 ish'eld by means 4of a1trigger` 2- against a springgf1 so that" the` piercer 1"Y .55

" lio the memberl has crossed the axis of the piercer' is withdrawn fromthe neck of a container 4 of highly compressed liquid or gaseous nreextinguishing medium. The container 4V is shown partly broken away inthe drawing.V A screwthreaded projection on the neck of the container isscrewed into a vertical projectionv 5 which is cast integrally with vacircular casing 6 that serves as a housing for the majority of the partsof the piercing mechanism. The projection 5 is formed with a bore whichnts the piercer 1 and through which the piercer can move longitudinally,the bore being an extension of the screw-threaded aperture whichreceives the aforesaid projection on the container 4.

When it is necessary to release fire extinguishing Huid from thecontainer 4, a remote control not shown in the figure but Awhich may beof a similar nature to that described and illustrated in Patent No.1,881,668, is operated in such a mannerl as to cause the cere 'l' of anArens control to move away from the casing 6 through the sheath 8 orthe"Arens control. The outward movement of the core 7 causes the lowerend of a slot 9 formed in a lug 10, attached to the end of the core?, toabut against a pin 11 carried by a lever 12 piveted at 13 and to thuscause the lever 12 to swing in a clockwise direction about its pivot.The lever 12 is in the form of a bell crank lever one end of which,whenthe mechanism is in the set position, engages the head of the trigger 2Handhelds it in engagement with a groove 14 formed in an elbow member15which carries a spindle 16 on which the two links 1'7 and 18 of atoggle are pivoted. When the lever 12 is caused toswing in a clockwisedirection by means of the Arens control in the manner described above,it moves out of engagement with the head of the trigger 2 so thatthe'sprng 3,7one end of which bears aganst a iiange 19V formed at theend of a tube 20 through which a rod 21 carried by the member, 15 canslide and the other end of which abuts against the member 15, is free toforce the member 15 across the axis of 'the piercer, swing-V ing'thetrigger 2 outof the groove 14 during its movement. The toggle link 18is'pivoted at its end remote from the member 15 to the casing 6 and thetoggle link 17 is pivoted at its upper end tothelower end of the piercer1.' Thus, as the member 15 moves across the axis of the piercer,

the toggle rst becomes'V straight and infso doing Vcauses the piercer 1to move upwards and sever; a

seal which normally closes the container 4.,V` After the vtoggle againbecomes cranked, with the result that the piercer is withdrawn from thelneck of the Ycontainer 4 so that .the piercer does not obstruct theoutlet which it has cut in the seal. The member 15 is caused to moveacross the casing 6 until the link 18 of the toggle contacts with a lug22 when Athe mechanism comes to rest with the toggle in the positionshown in dot and dash lines.' A

sleeve 23 extending from the member 15`surrounds the spring 3 and servesto prevent the head of the trigger 2 engaging between theY coils of thespring 3. After the seal'has been pierced the fire eX- tinguishing iiuidescapes from the container first into the bore in the projection 5through which' the piercer 1 moves, and then laterally from the boreinto radial passages 24 which are connectedv by pipes (not shown) topoints where there is a danger of re occurring.

The slot 9 in thelug 10V and the pin 11 carried by the lever 12 togetherconstitute a lost motion device which permits a certain amount ofrelative movement between the lug 10 and the lever 12 as prevented bythe lever 12 which is so arranged Yrelative movement between the core '7and the sheath V8 even although the remote control is not actuated.

The slot 9 in the lug 10 and the pin 11 carried by the lever 12 alsopermit the piercing mechanism to be re-set easily. Owing to the factthat the remote control may be at some distance from the casing 6, itwill be understood that it may not be possible to reset the remotecontrol and the parts' connected with the toggle simultaneously. Theslot and pin arrangement between the core of the Arens control and thelever 12 permit the remote control to be reset rst and the toggle to bereset afterwards. Thus, in order to reset the mechanism, the lug l0 isrst caused to move downwards as a result of re-setting the remotecontrol and the trigger 2 is then caused to engage the groove 14 in themember 15 by moving the toggle lmechanism back to' the position' shown`in full lines in the figure by means of a handle 27 pivoted at 28 to theoutside of the'casing and carrying a lug 29 which projects through aslot 30 in the' wall of the casing and which is located so '-25 as tobear against the toggle and force it into the set position when thehandle is depressed. When the handle 26 is released, aspring 31 causesit to return toits uppermost position.Y A resetting handle of this kindis described andv illus- 30 prevented from'further movement as a resultof "'35 its engagement with the upper end of the head of the trigger 2,which, until the member 15 hasbeen returned to the position shown infull lines in the figure, is canted upwards with the lower end vof d yits head bearing against the sleeve 23. jAs soon as f' the toggle hasbeen returned to the position shown in full lines in the iigure, thelower end of the head of the trigger 2 can enter the'slot 14, thuspermitting the lever l2 to move further in the anti-clockwise directionuntil it contacts with a stop 26 and thus takes up a position in whichit holds the trigger 2 in engagement with the member 15 so that thepiercer 1 remains inethe position shown in the figure after theaforementioned handle used for re-setting the toggle has been released.It will be seen that, when the mechanism is set in the set positionshown, the spring 3 tends to cause thetrigger 2 to move in ananticlockwise direction. Such movement, however, is

that, althoughthere is a tendency for'the trigger to swing about itspivot, there is no tendency for the lever 12 to swing in a clockwisedirection about the pvot 13, because the line of thrust exerted by thetrigger 2 on the lever 12 passes through the Vpivot 13 and therefore hasno turning moment about theY pvot 13. Y

What is claimed is: Y y Y 1. A piercing mechanismY for sealed-containersof liquid or highly compressed gas comprising a piercer, driving meansoperable to forcibly drive said piercer through the wall of thecontainer, a pivoted trigger for retainingr said piercer and drivingmeans ,inl readiness, for operation, said trigger-being movable out ofits retaining position under the influence Vof said Vdriving means,

"a spring-loaded'lever'for retaining said trigger in'its retainingYposition, said lever Abeing pivoted about an axis lying in the line ofthrust exerted by said trigger on'said lever, actuating means foractuating said lever to release said trigger, whereby said piercer anddriving means are rendered operative.

2. A piercing mechanism for sealed containers of liquid or highlycompressed gas comprising a piercer, driving means operable to forciblydrive said piercer throughthe wall of the container and to thereafterpositively retract said piercer, said driving means comprising a togglecooperatively associated with said piercer and including an elbowmember, a pair of links pivotally connected to said elbow member, and aspring cooperatively associated with said elbow member to move saidtoggle from one cranked position across dead center to another crankedposition, the line of thrust on said toggle being at right angles orsubstantially-at right angles to the axis of the piercer, retainingmeans cooperatively associated with said elbow member for retaining saidtoggle in its cranked position against said spring,` and actuating meansfor releasing said retaining means to render said piercer and drivingmeans operative.

3. A piercing mechanism for sealed containers of liquid or highlycompressed gas comprising a piercer, Idriving means operable to forciblydrive said piercer through the wall of the container and to thereafterpositively retract said piercer, said driving means comprising a togglecoperatively associated with said piercer and including an elbow member,a pair of links pivotallyrconnected to said elbow member, and a springoper,- able through said elbow member on said ltoggle to'move it fromone cranked position across dead center to v another cranked position,retaining means cooperatively associated with said elbow member forretaining said toggle in `its cranked position against said spring, apivoted trigger cooperatively associated with said elbow member forretaining said toggle in readiness for operation, said trigger beingmovable out of its retaining position under the inuence of said spring,

a spring-loaded lever for retaining said trigger in its retainingposition, said lever being pivoted about an axis lying in the line ofthrust exerted by said trigger on `said lever, and actuating means foractuating said lever to release said trigger to render said piercer anddriving means operative.

RICHARD ZIESCHANG.

